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Mountain ridge homestead - Proposal
For access to the Mountain Ridge Homestead Creative Interior Plan, please click the button below
Pip and Tom,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to come and see your home. I am so full of ideas it hurts!!
If you decide to proceed with me, and I very much hope you will, then this is the portal we will use for the Master Plan. Only you can access it and I encourage you to give as much feedback as you can - I want us to be on the same page! This initial document reflects the conversations Pip and I had last Friday and my understanding of the issues you want to resolve. It’s a large house with enormous potential to transform into a place that fits your family’s needs and that can also wow your friends and family with its style and grace. So let’s get started!
Existing floor plans
These plans will form the basis of our design moves, but we will need a new professional plan encompassing our ideas before we begin construction. Of course you know that - I’m just being thorough!
Lets start from the front door…
The front door…?
Since the reorientation from the initial design and use of the house when it was built, there is now no formal entry point - no ‘front door’. You feel as though you’re coming through the back door – because you are!! We need to create a sense of arrival that is gracious and befitting a large house, welcoming and warm, just like the family who live here.
There is a ton of space to do this and I think we need to be bold. Changes to the current layout are not structural, given these are not load bearing walls, so it also won’t be expensive. But it will be utterly transformational.
The elephant shot.
Once we do get inside, the layout of the kitchen/living area is all wrong. The kitchen feels disconnected to the rest of this large room and it has inadequate bench space, storage capacity, and functionality. We want a butlers pantry, we want a large island bench, we want plenty of space for an ‘entertainers’ kitchen that is connected to the rest of the room, to the fireplace, to the district views beyond. Right now there is an elephant camping smack bang in the centre!!
The other major issue with this room is that, it in relation to the pool, it might as well be in Berry!! We need to connect both ends of the house so that it feels like one big rambling home, not separate suburbs. Importantly, you need visual connection from end to end of the house to better monitor and supervise a gaggle of kids.
New doors await….
The money shot - short changed by not enough doors!!!
I totally concur with Tom’s idea to open up more of the wall that faces the view by pulling out the existing doors and replacing them with a bank of low profile steel (maybe that’s a bit of me right there!!) bi-fold doors that really will enhance the view and the quality of light in the space. I would suggest we replace all doors and windows in the kitchen/living wth the same.
The whole living area needs a cohesive furniture plan and we need to decide what works, what needs some love, and what needs be turfed and replaced. A scheme is not a hard thing to devise, it’s a matter of being clever with honouring the existing pieces you want to keep and augmenting with additional to achieve that magic blend of style and comfort.
The rumpus room at the pool end is having an identity crisis and urgently needs resuscitation. Currently, it isn’t utilised and with growing children, we need to get it sorted so that the overall capacity of the living space is increased in time for the warmer months. We also need it to service the pool area! This is an easy fix.
Included in the plan will be a scheme for upstairs - the reading room, the bedroom and the balconies. Adding colour and texture to these rooms, improving the functionality of the balcony outside, and carefully curating and forward planning your art collection will hugely enhance the space you have already created.
Although I didn’t take any photos of the children’s rooms, I think we can make some changes there too, so that the whole house feels cohesive with a colour/texture palette throughout.
Outside
First and foremost, we need to address the address!!! We want street appeal for the vineyard and restaurants, and we want a similar statement at the transition point between the commercial property and the private residence. I think people expect that - they respect it. Your timber theme that works so brilliantly with the pergola/’artwork’ (which I just love) and the new shed and platform would be perfect for the entrances to both the public and the private. So the guy who did that work - we neeeeeed him baaaaack….
Much of what I think needs doing to enhance the home involves planting trees! Lots! We need to think about better screening and sculpting of the grounds so that the house nestles into a lush and private enclave that is quite separate and private from the restaurant and public areas.
The front lawn is screaming for some heavy duty Adirondack chairs, a decent fireplace or fire-pit - a garden destination for when the wind isn’t blowing and the mozzies aren’t biting. And yes we do have those times!! It’s about claiming the spaces around the house - expanding out to really build on the sense of a homestead, rather than just a business enterprise.
The concrete verandah around the kitchen/living spaces is ripe for some fresh and sustainable ideas….
The pool area is a little bleak. It needs to softened, shaded, planted and furnished. It needs to be a haven for parents and kids and given its generous scale, this will fun to transform.
The concrete between the house and pool is a little institutional and I think needs the same treatment we give to the verandahs at the other end of the house. The timber work you have done on the balcony above is exactly my vibe for what we could do on the ground
What to do next….
So there is a huge amount here - and I know everyone has a budget! But if you’re going to spend money at all, then a plan has to be the priority so that every dollar you spend has a double impact - the first is visual, the second is a strategic stepping stone linking to the next phase.
We have spoken about engaging an architect and I will follow up on this asap so that you can contract that person to do a set of plans for the changes to the living room end of the house.
I will immediately begin work on the creative interior plan (CIP) which is a moveable feast - so don’t worry if you have commitment issues!! This is the beginning of an extended conversation and culminates in a result you feel confidently responsible for. That is my aim.
Payment of my invoice green lights the process. At that point, I will come back and take about a million more photographs for my reference, and I will organise meetings with an architect and various trades to begin preparing budget notes and a timeline. There will be constant updates to this portal with design ideas which I will notify you about when they occur and at ANY stage of the process you feel concern over the direction of those ideas, then all you need to do is call. This is YOUR house and you are employing me to bring YOUR own dreams home.
Fee structure:
Ah…. the important bit!! My fee comes in two parts:
I charge an initial $3000 fee for a creative interior plan. This encompasses architectural design input (though you will engage an architect or draughty independently to do the building plans), an interior scheme, a furniture schedule (including my suggestions on what to keep, what to scrap, what to buy), a flooring schedule, and advice on art curating and hanging. It will also cover a scheme for the pool, verandahs, balconies and garden.
Additionally, I charge 10% on what you spend. I pass on all trade discounts, which can vary between 5-20% on average, so when I add my 10%, you’re still in front. I do this as an alternative to an hourly rate because I like to take my time on a project and find it ends up costing my clients considerably more if I charge by the hour. I know you have established relationships with trades and may prefer to use them over ones you don’t know, but we enter a relationship based on mutual trust and friendship and so I have no hesitation in assuming you will honour my terms!
